Baltimore Mayor Martin O?Malley intends to appeal U.S. Census Bureau data that indicates Baltimore City residents are leaving the city at a rate of about 500 people per month, his spokeswoman said Wednesday.
“We believe we?ve stemmed the tide of population loss we?ve seen in the 1990s,” said Raquel Guillory. The city also challenged Census data in 2001, 2003 and 2004.
“As we continue investing in Baltimore, we?ll see the trend going upward,” Guillory said.
Census Bureau data released Wednesday showed a 1 percent drop in Baltimore City?s population ? from 641,943 in 2004 to 635,815 in 2005, a decrease of more than 6,000 people.
State Del. Jill Carter, D-District 41, said the reason people are leaving Baltimore City is no secret.
“The O?Malley administration hasn?t invested in the schools like it should have and hasn?t invested in minority businesses,” she said.
But City Council Member Kenneth Harris said O?Malley deserves credit for at least slowing the rate of people leaving the city.
“If there?s any good news, it?s that we went from losing 1,000 a month in the 1990s to 500 a month,” he said. “So, the numbers are moving in the right direction, and we?ve got to give the mayor credit for that.”
City Council President Sheila Dixon said she expected the tide to turn and for Baltimore to begin growing in the near future.
“Will we get back to 1 million people? I?m not sure,” she said.
Baltimore, which ranked as the 18th quickest-shrinking city in the country, was one of several Eastern U.S. cities to lose population, according to the Census report.
New York remained the nation?s largest city with 8.1 million people, but it lost 21,500 from 2004 to 2005, more than any other city.
Philadelphia, which has lost about 50,000 manufacturing jobs since 2000, has lost 54,000 people during the same period.
People have been moving west and south for decades, and last year was no different. All but three of the 50 fastest-growing cities from 2004 to 2005 were in those regions, with many in California and Florida.
Baltimore City Council Member Keiffer Mitchell said the city?s appeal would give Baltimoreans a “more accurate number” of residents who left the city.
“What?s going to keep people here in the city of Baltimore is a good school system and meaningful property tax reform,” he said. “People also care about quality-of-life issues. They care about petty crimes, smashed windows, patio furniture stolen. I think there needs to be training in the police department and there shouldn?t be quotas, but I don?t want to handcuff officers out on the street who are trying to respond to the wishes of the citizens.”
But Carter said police officers have been too quick to arrest innocent residents.
“They?re creating an additional category of unemployable people,” she said. “People who have arrest records with no convictions. It?s very difficult for them to get employed after that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
